Canadian Man’s Drug Smuggling Conviction Overturned After Judge Fails to Write Ruling
It’s hard to hear this man’s conviction was overturned, especially when you consider his actions caused the death of at least one. The article reads like a TACLET on board the USS McCampbell made the interdiction back in 2003. Nice job on the leg work guys, too bad its been undone on the back end.
A man convicted in a scheme to smuggle nearly a quarter-billion-dollars worth of cocaine into Canada has won a new trial because the judge failed to issue reasons for the conviction. James Kenneth Frost, 58, is serving a 16-year prison term for his role in a nearly decade-old drug smuggling caper off the shores of Costa Rica. Ontario Superior Court Justice Nola Garton imposed the sentence in May 2007 after finding Mr. Frost guilty of drug trafficking.
“Unfortunately, no reasons have been delivered to date, more than three years after the impugned ruling,” said the Ontario Court of Appeal in a decision released this week. The lack of reasons made it impossible for appellate review, said the appeal court.
Judge Garton concluded that Mr. Frost was part of a group of mostly middle-aged Canadian men who were attempting to smuggle 1,360 kilograms of cocaine in a 52-foot sailboat destined for British Columbia. The court heard the cocaine was obtained from Colombians, after a plan fell through to obtain a large quantity of marijuana to smuggle into Canada. Acting on a tip from the RCMP, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped the Sin Rumbo about 1,800 kilometres off the coast of Costa Rica in May 2003. The captain of the sailboat, Wesley “Stinky Foot” Trimble, was the only person on board. (Mr. Trimble was prosecuted in Costa Rica, and his conviction was also overturned on appeal.) After the Coast Guard discovered the drugs, five artillery shells were fired from the U.S.S. McCampbell to sink the Sin Rumbo, for reasons that remain mysterious. It was the fifth-largest single seizure of cocaine in the history of the RCMP, following a multi-million-dollar investigation dubbed Project Outer Limits. The high-grade cocaine had a street value of more than $230-million if converted into crack cocaine. An associate required to remain in Colombia as a hostage under the terms of the deal, was killed by the drug cartel when the smuggling plan was foiled.
The RCMP charged Mr. Frost and six other men after an investigation that included evidence obtained from dozens of wiretapped calls. Two of his alleged associates plead guilty and received lengthy prison sentences. When the trial of Mr. Frost began in the spring of 2007, his lawyer argued there was an expectation of privacy on the sailboat. Mr. Frost was seeking details about communications between U.S. and Canadian authorities as part of a planned legal argument that the search of the boat violated the Canadian Charter of Rights. Following seven days of evidence, Judge Garton issued a six-sentence ruling that dismissed the defence arguments. She convicted Mr. Frost a few days later.
“I am obviously going to have to take some time to write my ruling on this. I don’t know how long at this point,” the judge said in court in May 2007. The federal Crown asked for the appeal to be put on hold so that Judge Garton could write her ruling. The appeal court denied the request because of what it said was already inordinate delay.
Defence lawyer Phil Campbell said in written arguments filed with the Court of Appeal that “it cannot possibly be clear to [Mr. Frost] why his only line of defence failed at the outset. This does not constitute a fair shake, and falls below the standard of justice the public is entitled to expect.”
Mr. Frost, who has no prior criminal record, is serving his sentence in a medium-security prison in Ontario. His trial lawyer, Allan Lobel, said Mr. Frost intends to seek bail, pending a re-trial. A spokesman for the federal prosecution service said it is reviewing the Court of Appeal decision.
Filed Under: Counter Narcotics • Crimes • News
